Vikings satisfy Rooney Rule with two minority interviews this week

Vikings satisfy Rooney Rule with two minority interviews this week

Minnesota Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier watches his team give up a third touchdown to the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati, Sunday, Dec. 22. (MCT)

By CHRIS TOMASSONPioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.

Fritz Pollard Alliance chairman John Wooten said Monday he was disappointed in the Minnesota Vikings’ Dec. 30 firing of coach Leslie Frazier. But he’s confident the team is making a sincere effort in considering minority candidates as it looks for Frazier’s replacement.

Vikings general manager Rick Spielman was scheduled to interview Arizona defensive coordinator Todd Bowles on Monday and Cleveland defensive coordinator Ray Horton on Tuesday. Both interviews were to take place in the Phoenix area, and each would satisfy the NFL’s Rooney Rule, which requires at least one minority candidate be interviewed for head coach and senior football operation jobs.

The Fritz Pollard Alliance works with the NFL to promote diversity.

Wooten, a former NFL guard, claimed some unnamed teams did not conduct legitimate interviews last year with diversity candidates. But he’s confident the Vikings are genuinely considering both Bowles and Horton.

When Minnesota fired Frazier, it dropped the number of NFL minority coaches to three. However, Lovie Smith has brought it back to four after being hired last week by Tampa Bay, and Frazier will be his defensive coordinator.

“That sort of knocked us back,” Wooten said of the Vikings firing Frazier after a 5-10-1 season. “The reason why it knocked us back a little bit was the way he fought like heck to get the guys in the playoffs in 2012. He’s not the guy that has the final say on what players are brought in, and I think that he was deserving of at least another year of how this thing should work. But he’ll be all right. He’ll be back. … He’ll get another shot in this league (as a head coach).”

The NFL had a record eight minority head coaches in 2011, but the number dropped to six in 2012 and four in 2013. Wooten said he was disappointed with some interviews held last year that he said he thought were conducted merely to comply with the Rooney Rule.

“They were interviewing guys that I personally felt they had no intention of hiring,” Wooten said. “Therefore, the spirit of the rule was violated. … I don’t want to call out names, but those that were involved know what I’m talking about. … We were disappointed that there were eight head-coaching jobs and six GM jobs open last year and none of them was filled by a minority.”

Each December, the Fritz Pollard Alliance meets with NFL officials and comes up a list of top minority candidates for head coaching and front office positions. The list is distributed to teams that have openings.

Caldwell and Jackson have been NFL head coaches. Bowles was Miami’s interim head coach to close out the 2011 season, going 2-1.

“He’s extremely disciplined,” Wooten said of Bowles. “He has very strong football knowledge. He’s very well prepared. He has excellent leadership.”

Like Bowles, Horton is a former NFL defensive back. Wooten spoke well of Cleveland’s defensive, which was ninth in the NFL in 2013 in yards allowed.

“Horton is just a football guy,” Wooten said. “I thought the Browns had an outstanding defense. I thought they were extremely well disciplined and played extremely physical and tough and smart.”

It remains to be seen who the Vikings will interview after Bowles and Horton. According to NFL rules, Whisenhunt and Roman must interview this week or teams would have to wait until each has his season end. With the Bengals eliminated Sunday from the playoffs, Gruden can be interviewed at any time.

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